"Authentic" Mexican Food?!

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: "Authentic" Mexican Food?!

Mexican restaurant on Kam Hwy in Wahiawa just over the bridge is junk. Too much chiles. Too hot to taste. I only saw non-Mexicans eating there when we went.

Y'all missed one of the best for they have closed. Los Tres Compadres was located in Wahiawa Shopping Center and had the best homestyle Mexican food I've tasted locally. They ran a buffet lunch and dinner everyday for around $8 as well as serving menu items. The owner rarely used chiles in his food and more than half his clientele were Mexican families, local and military. When our boyz got sent to Iraq, he lost most of his business and the locals just couldn't keep him afloat. Sure hope he opens up another shop.

I mourn the loss of Los Tres Compadres. Unlike you, though, I gotta have the spice and often added hot sauce to the food there.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: "Authentic" Mexican Food?!

AC, I vaguely remember, but they had an alcove with shelves lined with different hot sauces from around the country. Right? If I'm on the right track, that collection was left by the previous occupant of that retail space. I think it was called Surf Taco or something. Even had surfer types working the counter. Yeah, they all had the same look. The streaky blonde hair, tanned skin looking to be like a raisin skin come 30 years, the broad shoulders narrow waists. The carefree style in how the greeted the customers. "Eh, howzit you guys. What'llyouhave?", while bobbing their heads and wearing a really goofy grin, albeit sincere. They never used "surfer talk" with the customers though, but heard them talk in the kitchen. You know, fersure, gnarly, shredded, dude, bitchen, etc. Very stereotypical. <LOL>

Oh, they served TexMex. Mostly tacos of course. Lots of combos including tacos. Mostly easy to make stuff like the enchiladas and burritos. Food wasn't bad and they even offered delivery.

At least at Los Tres, they gave you the option of heat. A lot of places don't. Even at La Familia, the owner gave me a sample of the green chile sauce that was going to be used in the chile verde. It was hot. If I wanted less spice, I was going to be outta luck.

[kimo55]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

those damned local casual island surfer types. they are destroying our society!

[Miulang]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

If you want "authentic" Mexican food, you need to refer to the following classic cookbooks on the subject:

"The Cuisines of Mexico" and "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico" by Diana Kennedy, who is still considered the doyenne of Mexican cuisine, introduced readers to the nuances of regional Mexican cooking, which was a revelation to those who thought of chili and Taco Bell as Mexican standard comidas.

The current big guy on the authentic Mexican cuisine scene in the US is Rick Bayless, who co-authored the cookbook "Authentic Mexican". If you click on the picture of the book cover, you get to preview the book, including some of the regional recipes.

All three of these are excellent reference books too, because you learn about how and why the regional cuisines evolved (based on political and geographical factors). The whole study of food anthropology is fascinating. Authentic Mexican food is definitely not all about chiles! (It is about masa, lard, and epazote, though).

Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

I love it when people demand "authentic Mexican food."

Here, have some corn tortillas banged out on a rock, with maybe a bit of chicken. That's it. No cheese, no guac, no rice, no lettuce, no sour cream, no beef, no chimichanga, no flour tortilla-wrapped burrito. Depending on how far back you want to go with the "authentic" label, of course. These days, a cheeseburger is "authentic Mexican food." They have cheeseburgers in Mexico, no?

Heh heh. Actually Maddie, not even the chicken. Chickens are Old World birds from Southeast Asia. Back in the day, all they had in Mexico were turkeys. And grasshoppers; they ate those too.

But didn't they have avocadoes? I think?

[MadAzza]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Heh heh. Actually Maddie, not even the chicken. Chickens are Old World birds from Southeast Asia.

Yes, but my understanding is that chickens made it to what is now Mexico quite a long time ago. Last I checked, nobody was sure how they got there (but it's been years since I read anything about it, so maybe they figured it out).

So I included chicken, with the disclaimer "depending on how far back you go."

Dunno about the avocadoes, though.

Grasshoppers! I think I'll take the non-authentic Mexican food, please. Gimme chimichangas, flour tortillas, cheese and margaritas!

[kimo55]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Many restaurants in Califirnia are owned and run by Mexicans who would cook incredible 'authentic mexican food" Tacos al carbon among other things.

fresh made corn tortillas
diced smallish cubes of steak.
Cilantro.
Diced onions.
a little salsa.
Cjorizo
Queso.

beans, rice.
but tastes prepped different from most mesxican restaurants.

when i was a newbie there, i asked them what kine food is this and they say it is REAL Mexican food. There were a few other authentic mexican eateries in town, in fact scattered through socal, of course and tacos al carbon and the rest was part and parcel of their fare.

[Miulang]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Up here, many of the Mexican restaurants (the smaller, family owned ones) serve Oaxacan and Michoacan regional dishes, because the immigrants from those regions are the ones who settled up here. Wonder what region the Mexicans who serve authentic Mexican food in Honolulu came from originally?

Miulang

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Wonder what region the Mexicans who serve authentic Mexican food in Honolulu came from originally?

LA.................................

[kimo55]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Nooo. they didn't come from Louisiana...


They came from all parts of south of the border. That's what Mama said...

[Erika Engle]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

A quote about Italian food, to illustrate a point.

Titled "Arrivederci, 'Italian' Food," from the April 2006 "Gourmet" magazine.

"Tell her," I said, "that I feel that now I have finally tasted Italy."
"Oh no," said Giorgio, turning to shake his finger at me. "This is not Italian food. This is the food of Campania."
"But Campania is part of Italy," I insisted.
"But in our country," he said, "there is not one kind of food. There are many. Everyone, everywhere, they eat different."
-- Ruth Reichl, Editor in Chief

There are different regions of Mexico, too. Americans, or immigrant-Americans, change authentic ethnic cuisine to allow for what was available/convenient in America.

I was not long out of high school when I ate at a then-new Mexican restaurant in Hilo named Reuben's. It was there that I had my very first taco made with SHREDDED BEEF, as opposed to ground beef -- which Mexicano Reuben told me was the way he grew up eating tacos.

My Sicilian brother-in-law, based on the tutelage of his even more Sicilian grandmother, makes his meatballs OVAL (and slightly flattened) -- NOT ROUND, as we do in the U.S. If you do the same, you'll find there's more surface for caramelization. (Prior to simmering them in or serving them with sauce.) Ono!

If you've watched Mario B., Giada D. or many of the Food Network chefs/cooks/etc., you KNOW that there's a difference between cuisine from Italy and "Italian-American" food. The same MUST, therefore, be true of cuisine from Mexico and "Mexican-American" food -- especially when you throw in the whole "Tex-Mex" and "Southwest" factors.

I'm not an expert in any type of cuisine, but I sure do love the learning process. I know a lot less than what there is to be known. Joy! I think I've just found my new signature.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Nooo. they didn't come from Louisiana...They came from all parts of south of the border. That's what Mama said...

Los Angeles.............

I'm not an expert in any type of cuisine, but I sure do love the learning process. I know a lot less than what there is to be known. Joy! I think I've just found my new signature.

Probably the same for most of us. That's what makes food discussion fun, especially food in Hawaii. Barring any gastrointestinal problems , we can still enjoy most of what Hawaii has to offer in moderation.

[Erika Engle]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Probably the same for most of us. That's what makes food discussion fun, especially food in Hawaii. Barring any gastrointestinal problems , we can still enjoy most of what Hawaii has to offer in moderation.

Aye, eye! True dat!

[Linkmeister]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Here's evidence that one can find a blog about anything:

The Great Taco Hunt

In which the author recounts his/her search for good tacos in Los Angeles.

For all you Angelenos, there's a list of restaurants on the blog's sidebar.

[hawaiian_pride]

Re: &quot;Authentic&quot; Mexican Food?!

Honestly there was one in wahiawa which I think was pretty good. It was located where the foodland supermarket is in wahiawa, I believe it was California Ave. It was called Los Tres Compadres. Not really sure what happened.... but one day they were gone... Yeah I no longer live in the islands i live in great northwest with alot of authentic mexican food.